Improvement in elevated railways and cars therefor



. E. ANDREWS. Elevated Railway and Car therefor. No.. 222,647. PatentedDec. 16,- I879.

- EDWARD ANDREWS, OF POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF OFHIS RIGHT TO SAMUEL E. GRISCOM, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN E LEVATED RAILWAYS AND CAR$ THEREFOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222.64%, dated December16, 1879; application filed September 20, 1879.

. ence being had to the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure l is a transverse section of my improved elevatedrailroad and car; Fig. 2, a diagram showing a car in the act of turninga curve, the truck being in dotted lines, so as to expose therunning-gear; Fig. 3, a perspective view of one corner of the truck; andFigs. 4c and 5, enlarged views of a griping device on the car.

A A are the opposite rails of the track, which are deeply grooved, orare, more properly speaking, made in the form of H-bars, one of the legsof the H on the outside of the rail being made somewhat higher than theother in order to prevent the lateral displacement of the cars.

The rails are in the present instance supported at suitable intervals bythe forked up. per ends of the posts 13, of suitable length, said postsbeing firmly planted in the ground; but it should be understood that thestructure for supporting the rails forms no particular part ofmyinvention, and can be varied as circumstances may suggest.

D is the car-body, and E the truck, the two parts being made separablefrom each other in the following manner: To the top of the truck, neareach edge of the same, are secured ribs to a, and to the latter areadapted projections b 1), formed on the lower part of the carbody, theribs a thus preventing lateral or vertical movement of the bodyindependently of the truck, but permitting the ready removal of saidbody when the truck is to be used as a platform-ear, or when afreight-car body is to be substituted for the passengencar or, if it isdesirable, the ribs a may serve as rails, onto which an ordinaryrailway-car may be run.

It will be understood that suitable means are employed for preventingthe longitudinal discar-body, and the bars on the other side of the carbeing hun g to links 9, pivoted to the body. (See Fig. 2.) By this meansperfect freedom of movement of the shoes is insured, and the car can bedrawn around curves of any desired radius.

In the present instance I have shown 011 each side of the car two bars,6, each carrying two shoes, d; but this arrangement may be varied as thelength of the car or character of the track may suggest.

Various plans of driving the cars may be adopted. For instance, astationary rope, rail, or rack arranged centrally between the rails A,and adapted to be clutched by suitable driving machinery on the car,might be used; but the plan which I prefer is that known as theendless-cable towing system, in which a wire rope driven by suitablemechanism at opposite ends of the line, or at one end of the line, iscombined with simple griping devices on the car, the car being griped tothe rope when it is desired to move, and released therefrom when itbecomes necessary to stop.

In the drawings, 00 represents the towingrope, the clamp consisting of ahooked plate, t, to which the rope is adapted, and to which it isconfined by a sliding block, m, operated by an eccentric, n, or by ascrew or similar device. Only one car or any desired number of cars ofthe train may be provided with clutching devices.

The clamping device being in the center of the truck, it becomesnecessary to arrange the horizontal rollers s, which guide the rope w inturning a curve, away from the center of the track, so that in passingthe rollers the clamping device will not strike the latter, but willlift the rope out of the groove before reaching a roller, and willdeposit it in said groove after passing the roller, as shown in Fig. 2.

The rails AA should always contain such a supply of lubricating materialthat the shoes will slide in the same with as little friction aspossible, the shoes themselves being preferab] y made ofanti-frietionmetal, and, if desired, being made in the form ofreservoirs of lubrieating material, so as to provide for the automaticdistribution of the lubricant the car moves along the track.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the grooved tracks A witha car having shoes d hung to pivoted bars 6, as set forth.

2. The combination of the grooved tracks A with a car having shoes (Ihung to bars 0, earried by links 9 011 the car, as set forth.

' 3. The combination of the truck E, having pivoted shoes (I and ribs a,with the ear-body D, having projections 1), adapted to the ribs (0, asset forth.

4. The truck E, having shoes (I and ribs a, the former being adapted tothe grooved rails A, and the ribs or adapted to serve as rails for theWheels of an ordinary car, as specified.

5. The combination of tlie car having a central clutching device, therope w, and the guidepulleys s at the curve, said guide-pulleys bein garranged away from the center of the track, so as not to interfere withthe passage of the clutch, as set forth.

- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWVARD ANDREWS.

Witnesses ALEXANDER PATTERSON, HARRY SMITH.

